VA School Superintendents Urge Youngkin To Terminate Tip Line

VIRGINIA — Virginia’s public school administrators accused Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration of making statements about “divisive concepts” being taught in schools across the state without providing any evidence.

They also called on Youngkin to immediately scrap a tip line created for residents to report teachers and schools to his administration.

A letter sent Thursday to Youngkin’s Department of Education on behalf of the 133 public school division superintendents said “gross assumptions” were made about school curriculums in an interim report released in February by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow.

“Division superintendents disagree with your assumption that discriminatory and divisive concepts have become widespread in Virginia school divisions,” Howard Kiser, executive director of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, wrote in Thursday’s letter.

Kiser said the letter was crafted and adopted by the association's 12-member board and does not necessarily reflect a consensus among all of its members, 8News reported.

In the letter, the association also emphasized that the state's school superintendents should have been consulted prior to the development of the report. "Mutual respect and understanding of each other's role in providing quality educational services should serve as the basis for constructive dialogue," Kiser wrote.

Without the participation by local school divisions, Balow concluded in the report that “discriminatory and divisive concepts” had become widespread in public school across the state.

Balow and Virginia Education Secretary Aimee Guidera met with the board of directors of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents and its officers on Tuesday to discuss the report released last month.

In their letter Thursday, the superintendents also called into question the Youngkin administration’s characterization of Virginia’s public schools.

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“Division superintendents disagree with the administration’s goal of ‘restoring excellence’ in Virginia’s public schools, since that implies an inaccurate assessment of Virginia’s public education system,” Kiser wrote. “By most measures, Virginia ranks near the top and surpasses most states throughout the country.”

During his campaign for governor in 2021, Youngkin regularly attacked the quality of education across the state. His campaign latched onto to campaigns by groups of conservative parents who opposed the teaching of critical race theory and the wearing of masks in schools.

On his first day in office, Youngkin signed an executive order that banned the teaching of critical race theory or related "inherently divisive concepts" in the state's public schools.

Critical race theory is an academic framework, usually taught in universities, which is based on the idea that racism is embedded in American institutions, creating persistent systemic inequalities for people of color. The term, once an obscure collegiate field of study, has become a conservative catch-all term for racial equity and diversity initiatives in public schools.

The school superintendents urged the Youngkin administration to terminate the tip line created for residents to report divisive content being taught in public schools.

"Parents and educators must collaborate in a positive manner to achieve better outcomes for children," Kiser said. "This administration can be a catalyst for positive stakeholder relationships through messages and actions."

Virginia Del. Suhas Subramanyam (D-87th) said in a statement Friday that the Youngkin administration's report was written "without sufficient evidence and without adequate outreach to teachers, parents, and school divisions. So it’s no surprise to see the leaders of school systems across the Commonwealth admonish it."

"The superintendents are right. Many of these actions truly take public education backwards," he said. "They rescind years of work and research developed in collaboration with parents, teachers, and school systems, and many of these programs have made a difference for kids and parents.

The Youngkin administration should create a working group on education, "rather than continuing to make our schools and kids a political football,” Subramanyam said.

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